


Something About This Town

by amberwoods



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Business AU, F/M, Modern AU, mature little babies falling in love on a business trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberwoods/pseuds/amberwoods
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gray Fullbuster is sent on a business trip to Russia, he's expecting a quick deal and a little relaxation. Unfortunately, he is immediately ambushed by some very enthusiastic (and old-fashioned) Russian men - and saved by a beautiful woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something About This Town

**Author's Note:**

> Gray is pretty OOC, I think! He's a little bolder. And more interested in romance.

This was not going the way it was supposed to.

He was supposed to arrive in Russia, take a cab to his hotel, send up his bags, get to his room and wait for a call confirming his meeting with the Chief Accountant of Fairy Tail Industries, some guy named Makarov. He was _not_ supposed to be ambushed in the lobby of his hotel by five different people speaking Russian so fast that he couldn’t understand a word.

“I have no idea what you’re saying,” Gray stammered at an older man that had been blabbering at him for the past ten minutes, “You’re going too fast.” He tried his miserable Russian again: “Can you speak a little slower?”

Too miserable to be understood by the men, apparently, because they just scooted even closer and kept talking to him with frowns on his face.

“I just wanna go to my room!”

Panic and irritation were taking over and these men were standing too damn close. He looked around for help, and that’s how he noticed her.

A tall, blue-haired woman was power-walking towards him and the group of men, a bothered expression on her face. “Oтец!” she called out. One of the men turned to her and she started talking to him agitatedly in Russian.

Gray was slowly reaching despair. “What the hell are you all trying to say?!”

Suddenly, the woman turned to him, an apologetic smile on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said in English, almost accent-less. She snapped at the men around him again and they finally gave him some space.

When Gray realised she’d spoken to him in English, his heart lifted.

She could probably read the relief on his face. “My father and his friends were a little pushy, I think. Are you alright?”

“ _Thank God_ ,” he groaned.                                                                                     

The man that was apparently her father mumbled something to his friends and a blush rose to the woman’s cheeks. She turned around to snap at him again and, this time, the men started walking away together.

“What the hell were they saying?” Gray asked his make-do saviour.

The blush on her face deepened. It looked incredibly attractive. “They… They were just… uh…”

“Don’t lie,” he warned her.

She smiled, visibly embarrassed. “They were offering you their daughters’ hands in marriage.”

“ _Marriage_?”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, a little panicky, “Your suit looks expensive and they’re just trying to help out their families, even though they go about it really badly, and I know they’re all a little aggressive and they didn’t listen, but please forgive them, they’re just a little silly and don’t understand that you can’t just start fighting over whose daughter gets to marry the handsome American man.”

“Handsome?”

Suddenly she didn’t say anything and her blush deepened. After a second, she tried to be professional about it, though. “Yes, you can’t say you’re not aware that you are… conventionally attractive.”

He gestured to their surroundings. “Well, I am on a different continent. Who knows what is ‘conventionally attractive’ here.”

“You tick the boxes,” she mumbled.

He supressed a smile and stretched out his hand to her before he embarrassed her any further. “I’m Gray.”

She looked up into his eyes and took his hand a little warily. “My name is Juvia. Welcome to Russia.”

He laughed. “Well, at least it was a warm welcome.”

She smiled a little as well. Although she was irritated by the situation, even she had to admit it was a bit funny. “I’ll pass it on.”

He let go of her and put his hands in the pockets of his suit. “So. Was your father one of them?”

Juvia sighed and pushed a strand of hair from her face. “My father, my uncle _and_ my neighbour.”

“So you’ll marry me?”

She froze and her eyes widened before looking up to him in shock. She found an amused smile on his face. “What?”

“Well, since I already have your father’s approval,” he continued, his eyes shimmering.

She laughed. “I’m afraid that here in Russia the woman is supposed to give her consent as well before she gets engaged.”

He arched his eyebrows in quasi-surprise. “Really? How strange.”

She smiled and teased him back. “Oh, you don’t have that custom in America? How barbaric.”

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “Well, you know us cowboys. We trade our fiancées for a bottle of gin.”

Juvia laughed heartily. He watched the way her face lit up and her curls danced around her face. She was beautiful. After a moment or two, her laughter turned into a smile. “I’m sorry, I need to get back to work. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

He smiled back. “So you work here?”

“Yes, I’m the assistant manager. My uncle owns this hotel.”

“A family business, then?”

“Yes. I hope to take it over one day.”

That would suit her. “That’s a nice dream.”

“Which is why I should really get back to work.”

He laughed. “Well, if you won’t marry me, do you think you could maybe give me some directions tomorrow?”

Juvia smiled. “Sure. I’ll be at the reception for a few hours after breakfast, you can find me there.”

“Perfect.” He glanced around the lobby again. “I take it my bags have been sent up?”

“Yes. Room 402 if I’m correct.”

“Yup, that’s it.” He gave her another of his small smiles. “Well then, Juvia. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

A blush ran over her cheeks. “Yes. Gray.”

The ghost of a smirk ran over his lips and he took a step closer to her. “And, maybe, if you have the time, you could show me around yourself?”

The colour on her cheeks deepened. “I-I’ll see what I can do.”

His smile widened. “Great! I’ll see you then.”

“Yes.” She sounded a little breathless and her eyes looked up to him, all big and blue. He couldn’t quite figure out how she managed to look so mature and so young at the same time. Then, she smiled. “I hope we can figure something out.”

“Me too,” he told her.

They went their separate ways after that, only to run into each other after dinner. They had a drink, then another, she blushed a lot and he enjoyed it immensely. The day after, around noon, they took a cab into the city and she pointed to him to all the landmarks. She was late for her evening shift when they returned, but her uncle didn’t mind too much. He exchanged a meaningful glance with her father and told her to take all the time she needed.

Juvia blushed, but her eyes glimmered determinedly. “I will,” she said. After all, this was the first handsome American in an expensive suit that had ever managed to make her feel like this. She wasn’t about to let him go.

Behind her, Gray was making a call to his boss, asking for an extension of his trip. He glanced at Juvia’s back over his shoulder. “It’s just that,” he told his superior, “I think there are a lot more opportunities here than we’d expected.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Determined Juvia ftw!


End file.
